Growing up my family was fortunate enough to be able to visit Disney World while I was a child. After my first experience I was hooked and dreamed of working for Disney from that point on. Flash forward to high school graduation and I decide to go to college forMechanical Engineering with the same goal, to graduation, move to Florida, and follow my dream of working for Disney. While in college I chose to add a minor in TechnicalTheatre as a way to help shape my experiences towards themed entertainment. During college I was able to secure an engineering internship with the safety team at Disney and relocate to Florida for 8 months. After that 8-month internship, I knew that I wanted to go back after graduation.
I was on track to graduate college in May of 2019, but was still waiting to hear back about opportunities at Disney while a majority of my friends were already accepting full time job offers with major companies. My persistence and patience paid off because I was offered another internship to return to Disney to grow my experiences and start interviewing for a full-time role. So, a few weeks post-graduation, I packed up my SUV and moved to Florida to start working for Disney again. The first few months were fantastic, I was doing what I loved, connected with awesome friends, and the future was looking bright. But little did I know, that in spring of 2020 all my plans would be turned upside down.
In mid-April of 2020, I was given the news that my contract was to be terminated due to mass layoffs caused by the theme parks closing during the pandemic. At that time, I was devastated and wasn't sure what was next. A few friends and I rented an Airbnb for a month hoping things would reopen and we could apply to return to positions at Disney. But that ultimately didn't happen. Instead, I decided to stick it out a bit longer, signed a year lease with a friend and was determined to find a way to support myself.
At the time, it was scary to see all of my plans falling apart. Everything I had worked for was now out of reach because of things out of my control. Growing up I had always been an entrepreneur at heart. I started my first business at 18 and dabbled in freelancing for years doing odd jobs to make some extra money. Now I was going to lean heavily on those instincts to find a way to make money. I figured getting laid off probably wasn't the opportunity I was searching for, but instead the opportunity I needed to follow my other dream of making money in a way that allows me to travel.
Since my new goal was to be able to travel and make money, I decided to purchase an old school bus to convert into a tiny house on wheels. I decided to share that journey on social media and my website, www.SeekingDiscovery.com, as another way to connect with folks who may be going through similar situations. Having the ability to pick up and move to new places, meet new people, and experience new things was something I was looking forward to. After about 9 months working on my skoolie, I was ready to hit the road fulltime and really embrace the Anywhere Worker lifestyle.
At the time of getting laid off I was familiar with Fiverr, but wasn't actively using it as a way to market my skills and connect with new clients. After some trial and error to determine what types of gigs would work for me on Fiverr, I have seen great growth over the past few months. Fiverr has opened the door to allowing me to travel and work remotely. Luckily staying connected on the road is getting easier and easier which means I can work with clients from almost anywhere. My office has been the beach, a lush forest, and even a vineyard a time or two. The freedom that comes from being an Anywhere Worker is more than I realized at the time of getting laid off. Like most people I have met on the road, my reaction is "I wish I would have started sooner." Both being active on Fiverr and traveling are two things I wish I had started sooner, but I am proud to say that Fiverr has played a major part in making it possible for me to be an Anywhere Worker.
